


the same boat

by ottermo



Series: out of the cave [3]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Gen, Robin is the wise aunt Mike needs right now, onesided Byeler is discussed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-14
Updated: 2019-07-14
Packaged: 2020-06-27 22:01:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,407
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19798648
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ottermo/pseuds/ottermo
Summary: Robin and Mike have a talk.It's tough when someone you love falls in love with you.





	the same boat

**Author's Note:**

> Trigger warning for the mention of homophobic behaviour/slurs. 
> 
> This is not a Byeler fic, but a "Mike is a good friend who genuinely wants Will to be happy" fic. 
> 
> It kind of follows on from "the third space", but can be read separately.

“Steve’s not here, buttmunch. Unless you’re a customer, you can get lost.”

Robin’s fetching her jacket from the back room when she hears Keith’s charming welcome speech, and wonders which of Steve’s rugrats is on the receiving end. Statistics say it’ll be Dustin, but between them, Lucas, Max and even Erica account for about half the solo visits. The only one who never seems to come alone is—

“Mike,” she says, a little surprised, as she steps out to the counter. Uncharacteristically obedient to Keith’s growl, he’s already turned to go, so he must be here for Steve, after all. “Hey, Mike. You need a ride somewhere?”

As an afterthought, she turns back to Keith. “See you Friday. Try brushing your teeth at least once before then.”

She double-steps to catch up with Mike, who’s near the door by now. “So. Ride?” she prompts.

He gives her a sideward look. “No,” he answers. “I’m good. Just looking for Steve.”

“He didn’t come in today, he’s sick. I’d stay away, unless you want to catch his dingus disease.”

“Okay.”

They’re outside now, and really, Robin thinks, she should let the kid go. But the thing is, she’s used to the drill now - for social calls, they come in groups. To settle arguments, they come in pairs. But when they come alone it’s for favors or advice, which Steve takes pride in giving. It’s weird, but it’s also, like, ridiculously sweet. It was one of the first things that had made her feel like maybe she could survive working with Steve, even if she mocked him for it.

She doesn’t mock him anymore. She downright participates.

“Hey. Are you sure only Steve can help? Because, no offence to the guy, but unless it’s about hair care, he doesn’t necessarily have an edge.”

Mike looks at her, at first uneasy, then just doubtful.

Robin perches on the wall that runs between the sidewalk and the lot. “I know you don’t know me like you know Steve, but I’m kind of invested in you guys now. I can tell you apart, and everything.”

That almost earns her a smile.

Hesitantly, he sits next to her on the wall.

“I just wanted to talk to Steve,” he says. “Because I… well, he’s... he was a popular guy at school, right?”

Robin snorts. “Crazy as it seems now, yeah, he was.”

“So he must have… I dunno.”

Robin reaches into her bag and pulls out a Coke can, snapping it open. She places it on the wall between them, then rummages for the second. She’d decided not to leave the extra one at the store for Keith to ‘confiscate’.

“Here."

Mike looks at her suspiciously.

“I haven’t spiked it,” she says with a smirk. “Go on. Loosen those vocal cords.”

He takes, but doesn’t open, the second can.

“So this is school-related?” she inquires, taking a sip of her own.

“Not really.”

“But it’s to do with… you know what, maybe just tell me, it’ll be less painful than me guessing.”

Mike heaves a big sigh that seems to be at least half frustration, directed at Robin. She doesn’t take it personally.

“What are you supposed to do if somebody likes you, and you don’t like them back? Not… not in the same way.”

Robin quirks her eyebrows up. Interesting. “I’m assuming that we’re not talking about Eleven.”

“No,” says Mike. “Someone else. I just don’t want to be a dick about it, but I kind of have a track record for being a dick without knowing that’s what I’m doing. Especially to this person. And I don’t _want_ to be.”

“Okay. So you’re friends with this person, right? And they want to be more, but you don’t.”

“It’s not…” he screws up his face, looking for the words. “I don’t think… this person… thinks we ever actually _could_ be more. They know Eleven, too. And they know that I’m…” He sighs. “I’m just trying to say that they’re not trying to break us up. They didn’t even want to tell me. But now I know, and I just... don’t want it to change things." 

Robin sets down her can on the wall, and, after a pause, says, “But it _does_ change things, doesn’t it?”

“I guess.”

“You feel like you’re second-guessing everything you say to them now, wondering if you’re sending the wrong message.”

“Pretty much.”

Robin regards him quietly for a few moments. Then she sits back, twists around so that she’s cross-legged on top of the wall. “Before we go any further,” she says, “Maybe I should make something… clear. Out of me and Steve, I am definitely - and to like a weirdly specific degree - the one who knows how you feel. But I want to get this common ground out in the open, you know?” She meets his eyes. “We’re talking about Will, aren’t we.”

Mike stiffens, like a prey animal. “What? I– no…”

"It’s okay. I’m not going to tell anybody.”

Her perceptiveness seems to have offended him. “I never even said ‘ _he_ ’.”

Robin smiles. “No, you said ‘person’, which, if anything, was my first clue. And I mean, come on. It’s obviously not Lucas’s girlfriend, or his sister. They’re the only other girls you know.”

Mike tuts. “Not true.”

“Okay, there’s me and Nancy…” She wiggles her eyebrows, teasingly. “I’m just saying. So Will likes you.”

He still looks unsure.

Robin tucks some hair behind her ear. “Onto the common ground. You must have noticed that Dustin’s stopped doing that little heart thing with his hands whenever me and Steve are stood next to each other.”

Mike shrugs. “I guess.”

“Well, it’s because Steve finally put him out of his misery. Dustin wanted married parents for the first time in his life, but it’s never going to happen.”

"You and Steve?”

“Yep. Or rather, nope.”

“Okay.”

She studies him, trying to ascertain if he’s followed her. Maybe not. Best to make it a little more transparent.

“Steve likes me. Or he _liked_ me.” A tiny part of her is still proud of it, in a weird, intellectual kind of way. Now that the cold horror of those first few seconds has passed, she can see it as something of a compliment. “And I had to tell him that I… don’t like boys.”

“Oh,” says Mike. “ _Oh_.” 

“Yeah.”

“You’re like Will,” he says.

Robin thinks of sweet, quiet Will Byers, in many ways the baby of their strange little family in a way Erica, the youngest, could never be. Will, who seems like he wouldn’t look a goose in the eye, much less say ‘boo’ to it, but who’d gone through more than seven circles of hell, from the descriptions she’s heard from his friends, and come out still standing. 

It seems a funny thing to claim, given all of that, but, “Yeah. Yeah, I’m like Will."

Mike doesn’t say anything for a few seconds. When he does speak, it’s more honest than anything she’s gotten out of him so far. He lets the relief show. “So you _do_ get it.” 

“I think so,” she says. “A little of what both of you are feeling, I think.”

“What did Steve say?” he asks. “When you told him.”

“He was… really cool about it, actually.” Those few minutes had taught her more about his character than whole months had before then. “I don’t know when he actually started to, like, deal with it, but in the moment, he just… carried on having a conversation with me. He switched to teasing me about a girl I used to like.”

“Whoa.”

“Yeah, I thought he’d be a jerk about it. Most guys are. But... in a way, that made it worse, you know, because it makes him the best friend I’ve ever had, and that’s the one person whose heart you don’t want to break.” 

Mike nods, emphatically. For a second it seems like he’ll say something, but either he decides against it or can’t make the words come. Robin notes that his eyes are a little shinier than before.

“You’ve known Will since forever, right?” she asks gently.

He nods again.

“And did you know he was–” she hesitates only slightly, decides to demystify the word. “–gay, before you found out the rest?”

“Not for sure. I guess I suspected."

Robin wonders how that conversation went down, and her heart goes out to both of them. Will, mostly, but Mike too, because clearly it’s eating at him. “Mike, you’re a good kid,” she says, sincerely. “The fact that you’re even worried about hurting Will counts for a lot, you know.”

He looks confused. “It shouldn’t.”

“I know it shouldn’t, but it does.”

She thinks back to being fifteen. A couple of times she’d come close to dropping Tammy a hint, but then she’d heard her discussing with a friend that Barbara Holland was almost certainly a dyke, and if she really had run away then it was all the better, because Tammy would rather be caught dead than share a desk with _that_ for another semester.

It hurts even now, even though Steve had been right, because Tammy _was_ a dud, but you can’t help who you like. You really, really can’t.

So although it doesn’t seem the right thing to tell Mike right now, in the long run, Will’s lucky that his first crush is only unrequited, and by someone who cares how he feels. A sad story, but not a cruel one.

“Is there… do you want to ask me anything?”

A risky question to pose to a boy in his early teens, but something tells her he’s not going to ask for a free show. Instead, he comes out with possibly the most endearing thing he could ask.

“Is Will going to be okay?”

It’s all she can do not to let out an ‘aww’, which Mike wouldn’t appreciate.

“I mean, like, in life. Not about me.”

Robin takes a deep breath. Is Will Byers going to be okay in life? Is anyone?

“He’s going to be fine,” she says, because it’s what she wishes someone could have told her at the beginning, for herself. “Some things are gonna be harder. Some things are gonna be really hard. But he’s stronger than he looks, right? Most people don’t ever get to prove it as much as he has already.”

Mike nods.

“He’s gonna find more people that are like him, people who understand. And he’s got an amazing mom who’s gonna support him. And friends who’ll stick with him. At the end of the day, he’s not gonna wish it was any different.”

“But people are… some people are gonna _hate_ him,” says Mike. 

“That’s one of the harder things,” she allows.

“Is it bad that I… I wish he could be normal.”

She flickers between two possible answers. In the end, she goes with the one that matches his motive. “No,” she says, “It’s not bad to wish his life would be more straightforward. Nobody wants their friends to have more problems than they have to.”

She taps a finger against the side of her Coke. “Maybe you should talk to Steve, as well. Get the other perspective. Because… alright, I’m gonna use the L-word, but you can’t freak out. Do you love Will?”

He shifts, glances down. “Yeah. I love all my friends.” He half-smiles. “I think I did before, anyway, but...”

Robin chuckles. “When you see someone almost get eaten by a monster from the underworld, you know for sure either way, right?”

“Right.” He coughs. “Although, it’s called the Upside Down.”

“Geez, of all the times to be picking fault,” she says, teasing. He returns her wry smile.

“Back to what I was saying,” Robin says. “You love him. You want to support him. And now you know his life is going to be…. complicated. You want to support him _more_ , because of that, but you’re worried that it’ll make it worse.”

“Exactly,” he says, with feeling.

“Here’s where my situation gets easier,” says Robin, “because I don’t have that extra layer with Steve. He’s straight, white, pretty, and rich. Boo hoo. The guy needs about as much sympathy as a melon. But even then, for the first few days, I had this urge to be, like, _nice_ to him. Partly because we had both just seen a guy die, and stuff… but also ’cause he’d done this really romantic speech - like, even covered in vomit, it was kind of beautiful - and I’d had to shoot him down.” 

Mike looks a bit puzzled, probably by the vomit mention, but he just says, “So what did you do?”

“Well,” she says, “I wasn’t mean to him, but I tried not to be too nice, either. I figured it would be worse if I changed. Because, here’s the thing, they were our friends before they fell for us. The last thing they want is to feel like they destroyed the friendship. I know it’s hard, Mike, but you just have to treat him like you always have.”

He looks troubled. “It’s different for you guys,” he says. “You and Steve are always at each other for something. I swear, I didn’t even realise you were friends before we found you both at the mall that night. But me and Will are… just different. I don’t mean I’m always nice to him,” he adds hurriedly, “Especially since El came back, I’ve been kind of a dick, like I said. But we don’t have that jokey thing you have with Steve. That’s, like, Lucas. Or Dustin. Not Will. He’s too...” He searches for the word.

“Yeah,” says Robin. “Okay, yeah. You have a point. Lucas is the cool one, or thinks he is, so you can go after his street cred. Dustin straight up sang a love duet over the radio, so you don’t have to look too hard for material there. But Will’s just....the sweet one.”

Mike grimaces at her choice of word, but apparently still can’t think of a better one. “Guess so.”

“Okay,” she says, considering. “So keeping your real-name-to-dingus ratio steady isn’t going to cut it like it did with me and Steve. When you say you’ve been a dick to him, what do you mean?”

“I just… well, we all kind of ignored him, most of the summer. And the other day when I was talking to him, I realised it was the first time since they moved that I called and didn’t ask for El straight away. I guess I just take him for granted."

“So you want to pay him more attention, without rubbing his nose in the fact that you can’t be his boyfriend.”

“Basically.”

“Well, you never know, maybe he likes being ignored, maybe that little extra bit of attention will kill his crush dead.”

He narrows his eyes. “...are you messing with me?”

“Yeah. Sorry. That’s probably not going to happen. But for what it’s worth, there’s gotta be _some_ middle ground between acting like he doesn’t exist, and smothering him in affection. Maybe you just need to make a bit more of an effort, make him feel included again, like you did before you met Eleven."

Mike finally opens his Coke can. “Yeah. It’s hard, though, ’cause they moved.”

“Well, in a way that’ll be easier for him. Not seeing you every day, sucking face with your girlfriend. Although, he does _live_ with said girlfriend, so, it’s not totally reminder-free.” She hums. “This is such a weird situation, huh.”

Mike gives a hollow chuckle. “Tell me about it. Plus the fact that his brother’s dating my sister."

“Oh man, I forgot about that. Wow, you all really need to get out of town once in a while.”

“They did,” Mike says pointedly.

Robin giggles. “Oh, that’s right.” She shakes her head. “Gosh. You have a kid sister, don’t you? She’s going to have to find herself a stray Byers cousin from somewhere.”

That wins her a snort from Mike, who almost loses his mouthful of Coke.

The laughter lightens the mood considerably, and Robin feels a weird glowy feeling in her chest. This parenting thing is kind of rewarding. No wonder Steve hasn’t been able to give up the habit.

She traces the line of conversation back. “So, they moved. Which, you know, it would change _any_ friendship, and you’re probably still finding the new normal there. Will just needs to know you’re still his friend. Especially when you meet in person for the first time after he told you. Do you know the secret to awkward conversations?”

“No?”

She leans in a little, ready to impart the real pearl in her jewel box of wisdoms. “You gotta say, ‘Well, this is awkward.’”

Mike frowns. “What?”

“I’m serious. Draw attention to it. You both _know_ it’s awkward, that’s why it’s awkward, but you’re both afraid that the other person’s fine. So show that you’re uncomfortable too, and then they don’t feel like they’re the only one who is. Which negates the whole concept. Voilà.” She sits straight again. Upright, anyway. “Then follow it up with… oh, but we said no teasing. Follow it up with something that doesn’t really matter. Fill the silence. Then you’re good."

“Really?”

He's right to look doubtful. “Well, it might take a little more than that. But you guys aren’t just friends, you’re _real_ friends. However long Will’s crush lasts, the real stuff will last longer.”

She’s pretty sure Mike wouldn’t be drinking this all in if he knew how few ‘real friends’ she’s had in her life. But hey, he doesn’t have to know his idol’s feet are clay.

“You’re, like… really smart,” he says, as if to prove her right.

She flicks casually at her hair. “I know.”

"Maybe you could talk to Will, too?" he says hopefully.

Robin grins. "Oh, for sure. Next time he visits, he's coming right _here_." She gestures to her side, but earns a blank look from Mike. "Under my wing, dummy."

"Just don't tell him I told you."

"Of course. I'll get him to tell me himself."

"How?"

Robin holds up both hands. "Come on. I'm the queen of this kind of thing. I got you talking, didn't I?

He can't deny that one.

"Listen, I'm gonna help Will as much as I can. I'm definitely gonna stop Steve from giving him pointers about girls, in fact I'm going to steal and _destroy_ the list he's making. I've seen it, and it's pitiful. God knows how he ever got your sister to agree to a date."

"The hair," says Mike.

"Yeah, it probably was the hair. For a guy who's actually kind of special, he leans on the hair a lot."

They sit in companionable silence for a while.

"They're gonna be okay," Robin says. "Will and Steve. Without us. Or, you know, with us, but as friends. And we're gonna be okay too."

"I dunno," says Mike, with a grin. "Most of us still live in Hawkins."

"Hmm, true. Okay, so maybe only Will's gonna make it to thirty."

They laugh. The glowy feeling comes back, even stronger and glowier.

"Thanks, Robin. You're kind of cool."

"'Kind of'?" she echoes. "Easy, tiger."

He grins. "You know what would be _really_ cool, is if you could give me a ride to Dustin's."

"Deal." She swings her legs off the wall and jumps down. "Although I should warn you, I came here on my bike."

"What?! But you offered me a ride before!"

She laughs, and slings an arm around his bony shoulders. "I knew you wouldn't take me up on it. You so obviously needed to talk. I guess I'll just have to settle for 'kind of cool', for now."

He leans in to the sideways hug. "Nah. You're the best. Don't tell Steve."

"It's fine, he already knows."

They part at the bike rack, and she reaches for the key to her padlock.

"You could always sit on the back."

He shakes his head. "Pass. See you later, Robin."

"Bye, Mike."

As she rides off, Robin can't stop smiling, and doesn't care who sees. Damn, making a difference is satisfying. Now, she better work on a really good speech for Will's next visit, because that kid is going to feel _cherished._

Yeah, she definitely gets it now.

She'll never be Steve's girlfriend, but as a co-parenting team, they're gonna kick ass.


End file.
